#someone teach him how to use reddit

[smallermangoes]

You can thank or blame @mellifloss and @kittysquire for whatever this is. I am the number one cringe Rei Sakuma apologist, I think he could be even more cringe actually.

[popcornpoppypop]

Blood is Blood

Summary: You're one of the best attendings in The Pitt, Robby and Abbot trained you up themselves. When you find yourself in a tough spot and need someone to drive you home from an abortion, it had to be Robby.

Warnings: Abortion, vomit, blood, bad boyfriens

A/N: I have not had an abortion, I have had friends who had them and taken care of them after. That is mostly the information I used for this and some stories on reddit, I wanted to rely on patient experience rather than medical procedure and policy for this one.

You had only been an attending for a total of six months, and in that time, you had to help lead the hospital through a mass shooting, the idiot who let off fireworks in the trauma bay, listeria outbreaks 1 through 3, and train the new interns and med students. It had been a lot.

You had leaned on your fellow attendings, trying to learn how to be a leader and the one everyone turned to for everything. Dr. Abbot helped teach you that some people need to be pushed even if they look like they might crumble. Dr. Robby taught you how to make sure everyone was looked after. They both showed you how to carry the weight of every patient and staff member on your shoulders. You figured they would get as tense and tired as theirs were one day.

Robby and you had struck up a friendship and mentorship. It sometimes veered into something else, something neither of you had the confidence to name. Nothing more than flirty jokes and glances across the trauma bay. Besides, you had a boyfriend. Or a sort of boyfriend. You fucked a guy.

“Hey, you look like shit.” Robby smirked as you walked up to the hub desk. Your face pale, shoulders hunched, clearly dehydrated.

“Yeah. Not a great morning.” You sighed.

“You need to go home?” He asked, suddenly concerned.

“Haha. That’s so funny. I’ll be fine. Write me a prescription for Zofran and I’ll be fine.” You groaned as you sat down to start working on your morning paperwork.

“If you need Zofran, you need to go home. Maybe you got that flu that was going around, can’t have you getting patients sick.” Robby shook his head.

“It’s not the flu. I’m fine. Can you just leave it? I’m not in the mood.” You bit back.  Robby’s eyebrows knitted together in concern. You were never angry, not really and never with him or the staff. Hell, a med student vomited on your shoes and you still fussed over making sure they were okay.

“Alright. Don’t push yourself too hard.” He pointed and walked away.

You were grateful he hadn’t pushed it any further. You really didn’t know how to deal with your situation and Robby fussing wouldn’t make it better.

You managed your way through most of the shift, having to stop and sit a couple of times. Something Robby was keenly aware of. You were about to head into another room when your phone rang. Robby watched you take it, something that was also very abnormal for you. You had a strict policy with yourself about phone usage.

“What!? No. That’s not going to be possible.” You snapped. Robby watched as you got frantic with whoever was on the phone.

“F-fine. I’ll figure something out I guess. Yeah, keep the appointment.” You hung up the phone and shoved it back in your pocket as you stomped off to the next room.

“Hey, Dana, what’s going on with her?” Robby leaned over the counter. Dana looked up at him, glasses perched on the end of her nose, then to you and back to him with a confused look.

“How the hell should I know? You two are besties, surely if she wanted anyone here to know, you’d be the first.” She shrugged.

“She’s off today.” Robby wrung his hands together.

“She’s doing fine. You’re just nosey.” Dana laughed. Robby waved her off as he watched you scurry from room to room.

You were grateful when you saw Dr. Shen walk in. You were ready for the day to be over, you were ready before you got out of bed that morning.

“John, I am so glad to see you.” You sighed as you walked up to him.

“It’s nice to be needed.” He smiled as he sipped his coffee. You rolled your eyes as you began to rattle off your cases to him.

“You’re lucky you get Y/N as your number two. Shen still hasn’t found his drive yet. Not sure what I’m going to have to do for that kid to get motivated.” Abbot shook his head.

“Has she seemed off to you lately?” Robby asked as he watched you and Dr. Shen talk.

“No. But we only work together once a week. Why? Something up? You think she’s breaking” Jack leaned in with a concerned look.

“I don’t know. Dana thinks I’m being nosey. I don’t know. I’ll keep an eye on it.” Robby shrugged as he hiked his backpack on his shoulder. He ran to catch up with you as you left.

“Hey, you sure you’re okay? You seemed upset today.” Robby dug through his backpack.

“Just…don’t feel well.” You said, you could feel the emotion catching in your throat. Your body knew when the day was over and would start to make the wall of professionalism crumble.

“You need anything?” He asked as he handed you a protein bar. You often forgot to eat until you got home. He’d caught you when you passed out from low blood sugar once. He tried to shove protein bars at you every couple of hours.

You took it and flipped it around in your hands. You’re mind was racing, too much happening. You stopped in the middle of the sidewalk.

“I…”

“Hey, you two coming to the park? I got those seltzer things you like Y/N.” Donnie smiled.

“I can’t.” You blurted out in a way that made the two men look at you confused. “I’m not feeling well.” You cleared your throat. Donnie nodded and walked off.

“You need me to walk you home? Where’s that boy you’re with anyway? He usually drives you home.” Robby looked around the street.

“We…broke up.” Your voice cracking.

“Oh. I’m sorry.” Robby suddenly felt like an ass. “Come on. I’ll walk you home.” He said, guiding you by the shoulder.

You walked in silence for a while. Robby keeping on eye on you, watching as a thousand thoughts flashed across your face. He wanted to stop and ask what the hell was going through your head but didn’t want to impose. He walked you to the front door of your apartment and was going to start his goodbyes when you grabbed his hand and pulled him into the apartment.

“Whoa, what the hell Y/N?” Robby stumbled into the apartment, nearly face-planting with the force you pulled him.

“Sorry! I just, I need something and I couldn’t ask while people were around and it’s already going to be hard for me to ask and I just feel myself losing the nerve.” Your words falling out of your mouth in a rush of anxiety and desperation.

“Hey, it’s okay. Take a breath. What’s going on?” Robby put his hands on your shoulders.

“I need to ask you a favor.” You bit at your bottom lip, tasting the copper as it started to bleed. You lead Robby into the living room, gesturing for him to sit. He obliged, though his confusion hadn’t lightened.

“Are you in trouble?” Robby ran his hands up and down his legs as his anxiety started to rise.

“No. Well, yes.” You sighed. “Okay, I need you to let me just get all of the information out and then you can ask questions.” You looked at him with big, scared eyes.

“Okay, I’ll be quiet.” He agreed, his brows furrowed still.

“I found out three days ago that I’m pregnant. I didn’t notice any symptoms for so long, most of the ones I did kind of notice I chalked up to stress. When I finally went into my GP to try and get something for my acid reflux, she told me that I was pregnant. Went to the OB, she confirmed it. Problem is, I’m 12 weeks, or I guess closer to 13 now. Anyway, I don’t want to be pregnant and I sure as hell don’t have the time for a damn baby. I got set up for an abortion appointment next Wednesday. Oh! I told Darren, the guy I was seeing. He took off, screamed in my face how it was my fault and left. Prick. Anyway, I got a call today that because it’s further along they’ll have to do a surgical abortion and I’ll be sedated and because of that I have to have someone to take me home or they won’t do it. So, I need someone to pick me up and I love Samira but she’s so young and she still lets secrets slip sometimes and you’re off on Wednesday too and I trust you to keep this to yourself.” You took a breath, feeling like you just did sprints.

Robby sat there trying to decipher the information he had just received.

“Darren screamed in your face? You’re pregnant and he screamed in your face?” Robby felt himself starting to get angry, who the hell does that?

“I think you missed the important part.” You crossed your arms.

“No, I got that important part. I’m taking you to get an abortion on Wednesday. He screamed in your face? Where does he live exactly?” Robby asked as he got his phone out of his pocket.

“He’s an idiot, not important. I’m not giving you that information anyway.” You rolled your eyes.

“I bet Abbot could figure it out. He’d have some shit to mess him up too.” Robby said mostly to himself.

“Jesus, Robby!” You snapped.

“Sorry. I’m sorry. You’re right. Not important. Are you okay? I mean, that’s a lot to deal with.” Robby looked up at you with those soft, brown eyes that could melt snow.

“Y-yeah. It’s not great, but I’m fine.” You shrugged.

“You’ll tell me if you’re not.” He said it as an order more than anything.

“I will. Sorry, I freaked you out.” You tore your eyes from his in an attempt to keep from getting too worked up.

“Okay. What time?”

“Huh?”

“What time do I pick you up?” He tilted his head.

“Oh right. Duh! The procedure lasts about forty five minutes, appointment is at noon so around 12:45pm.” You nodded.

“So, 11:30am. Got it. I’ll be out front at 11:30am.” He nodded

“You don’t have to drive me. I was going to uber there.”

“Honey, Please. Like I’m letting you do that.” He shook his head, a smile spread across his face.

“Uh…” You’re mind going blank.

“I’ll see you Wednesday.” He nodded as he left.

You tried to go about the rest of the week as normal. Unsure how to feel about any of it. It was too much to think about, you put it in a box to deal with later.

You let out a groan as you forced yourself awake, Wednesday morning. You kept to your normal routine, showering, brushing your teeth, putting your hair up. The doorbell went off at 11am. Of course he would be early.

“You’re early.” You raise an eyebrow at Robby who was leaning on the doorway with two coffees.

“Wanted to make sure you had enough time to talk if you wanted.” He said, handing you a latte.

“I’m not supposed to have this.” You scolded.

“Oh we both know that it’s fine. You haven’t eaten anything right?” He asked, taking his sunglasses off.

“No, but they said no coffee.” You said sipping the latte.

“You’ll be fine. Enjoy the caffeine.” He had an Ikea bag slung over his shoulder as he barged into your apartment.

“What are you doing?” You looked at him, confused.

“Where are you going to want to rest up? Bed or couch?” he asked, looking like a man on a mission.

“Um, I was planning on staying on the couch mostly. Why?” You followed him into the living room. “I wanted to get it setup now so we aren’t worrying about it later.” He said as he started pulling things out of the bag.

“What the hell is all that?”

“Right, I did some googling,”

“Dangerous.”

“I found some Reddit posts where women talked about what they needed or wanted when they were recovering. I got you a new heating pad, a new blanket, and one of those neck massagers because it looked cool. I got some snacks, too. I got a big ass water bottle, too, that you will finish today, no arguments.” He said as he started positioning everything within arm's reach.

“Robby, you didn’t need to do all that.” You said, your throat tight with emotion.

“Yeah, well, I wanted to. So, I’m only going to ask once and then we can move on. Are you sure?” He said, suddenly getting serious.

“Thank you. Yes, I’m sure. I can’t…I can’t have a baby right now.” You looked away, the tears stinging as they formed.

“Okay. That’s okay.” He smiled. “Let’s get this done with then.” He nodded as he grabbed your sweatshirt hanging by the door and tossed it to you.

The waiting room for the OB was always so odd. Some people were there to get great news. Some for check ups, just another Wednesday. Some people were there with bad news. No one every really knew how to act. You sat in the uncomfortable chair, your knee bouncing with nerves.

“You okay?” Robby asked.

“Just nervous.” You cleared your throat.

“I forgot to ask, do you want me in there?” He shifted to face you.

“That’s asking too much.” You shook your head.

“It’s really not. If you want privacy that’s okay. But I’m more than happy to sit with you.” Robby smiled. You looked up at him, your hands were shaking and he could see how nervous you were.

“Okay. Yeah. Please.” You stuttered.

“Y/N L/N?” The nurse called out. You jumped up and scurried toward her. She brought you into a procedure room and handed you a gown.

“Hubby, you can help her get dressed.” The nurse said.

“Oh no. I’m not, I’m just here for moral support.” Robby’s face flushed red.

“Could have fooled me.” She chuckled as she left.

“I’ll just turn around, while you do that.” Robby cleared his throat as he faced the wall. You laughed as you gowned up. This man has torn the clothes off of countless patients but the thought of seeing you nude made him blush.

“You can turn around.” You said as you got settled on the bed. Your hands sat on your lap; you nervously picked at the cuticle.

“You doing okay?” Robby sat in the stool beside the bed.

“Don’t laugh, but I really have a hard time with needles and get nervous with sedation.” You sighed.

“Seriously? You’re around needles all day. You sedate people all day.” He scoffed.

“I know, other people. Not me.” You fidgeted with the collar of your gown. Robby realized you were serious and moved to take your hand.

“It’s not full sedation, just enough to relax you. I’ll be here the whole time, so you know there won’t be any mistakes. Okay?” He moved his head so you’d make eye contact. You nodded, afraid if you opened your mouth you’d start crying.

“Good morning, Y/N. It’s good to see you again.” Dr. Smith smiled as she came in.

“Good morning.” You cleared your throat.

“Is this your partner?”

“Oh no, just the moral support.” Robby smiled.

“Okay, do you need me to go over anything, I assume you understand the procedure.” Dr. Smith asked as she sat down across from you.

“No, I’m just ready to get this over with.” You took a deep breath.

“Understandable. Nurse Garcia is going to come in and get an IV going and start the sedation. Once you’re comfortable we’ll get started.” She nodded as she left.

“last chance to make a break for it.” Robby smiled.

“I can’t wait for the drugs, Jesus my hands are sweaty.” You shook your shaking hands. Robby laughed, though he could see the grief forming in your eyes.

“Hello, I’m Nurse Garcia. I’m going to get you hooked up for sedation.” She smiled. She brought a tray over with the IV supplies on it. She started cleaning your arm and your breath started picking up.

“Hey, look at me. You’re okay. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. You know that.” Robby held your hand in his, rubbing the soft skin in circles to distract you.

“Yeah, I know. I know that.” You nodded. His smile made the wrinkles around his eyes form and it made your stomach flip.

“Alright, sweetheart. You’re all set.” The nurse smiled. “I pushed the sedative, you should start to feel it in a few minutes.” She said as she lowered the lights and left the room.

“Not so bad.” Robby shrugged.

“She was good.” You nodded. “You were good.” You smiled.

“Not like I’ve been doing this for thirty years or anything.” He said.

“I should bring you to every blood draw.” You chuckled.

“I’d go if you needed.” He smiled. You couldn’t tell if it was real or the meds, but Robby was flirting. You wanted to flirt back, but this was your abortion and you were starting to feel high.

“Damn, that shit hit like train.” You mumbled as you swayed back and forth.

“Okay, Trainspotting. Lay back before you fall off.” He laughed as he helped you get comfortable.

“You’re so nice to me. I like it.” You smiled up at him sleepily.

“You’re easy to be nice to.” He said as he tucked the blanket around you.

“You aren’t this nice to the other attendings. You wouldn’t tuck Abbot in.” You laughed.

“I don’t think Jack would let me. He’d be an angry sedated patient.” You both chuckled.

“You have nice eyes. I always get all giddy when you smile and they look all gooey.” You mumbled.

“Oh yeah? Gooey?” Robby leaned on the guardrail.

“Yeah, like a sad puppy. It makes my tummy all butterfly-full of butterflies.” You said. Robby should tell you to stop. He should maybe excuse himself, have the nurse sit with you. But he wanted to say the same thing back.

“Alright Y/N. We’re going to get started.” Dr. Smith came in.

“Hooray. I can’t wait to have an empty uterus.” You cheered.

“Let’s get her legs in the stirrups.” Dr. Smith said as the nurse put your feet up.

“I can’t believe I let that stupid boy knock me up. Dumb boys.” You grumbled.

“We are dumb, sorry.” Robby nodded.

“No. You’re not a boy. You’re a man. Men are stupid too but not as much. You wouldn’t scream at me. I need a man.” You grumbled.

“I’d never scream at you.” Robby said as he watched the tears quietly fall down your temples.

“A little sting now. Just to help open the cervix.” Dr. Smith said. Robby took your hand in his. You hissed as the pain hit. “Good. Alright, you’re going to feel some pressure.” Dr. Smith noted as she started her machine.

“It can help to massage her belly.” The nurse nodded to Robby.

“Right. Yeah.” Robby cleared his throat as he put his wide hand on your lower belly and gave a gentle rub.

“Hmm…Warm.” You hummed.

“Almost over.” Dr. Smith said.

“You’re doing great.” Robby said.

“Hurts.” You groaned with knitted brows.

“I know, Hun. Do your best to relax.” The nurse gave your leg a pat.

“Deep breaths, Y/N.” Robby couched.

“Ah! That’s too much!” you hissed.

“I know, just squeeze my hand. You’re nearly there.” Robby brushed some stray hair from your face.

“Okay, sweetheart. You’re all done. Everything looks good. We’ll keep you here for thirty minutes to make sure there’s no reactions and you can go home.” Dr. Smith smiled as she helped the nurse put your legs back down.

“It’s done?” You whimpered.

“Yeah, it’s done.” Robby confirmed with a soft smile. You nodded, trying to keep the tears at bay.

“I don’t want to cry.” You sighed.

“It’s normal. Nothing to be ashamed of.” Robby said, handing you a tissue.

“I wanted this.” Your bottom lip trembled.

“Doesn’t mean it was going to feel good. You’ll be okay.” He rubbed circles with his thumb on the back of your hand.  Robby felt his heart breaking for you. He also couldn’t stop thinking about Darren. That boy would be in trouble if they crossed paths.

“I’m sorry, I asked you go through this.” You sighed, the sedation starting to wear off.

“I’m not. I would hate to know you’d gone through this alone.” He smiled. You looked up at him and you felt the need to ask him if he felt what you did. You were about to say something when the nurse came back in.

“Alright, you are good to go. Remember to take it easy today, the next week if you can. Drink lots of water and good meals. You’ll be bleeding on and off for a while. If you’re going through more than a pad an hour, go to the ER.” She said, handing you some paperwork.

“Okay. Thanks.” You said moving to sit up, Robby held your arms as your head wobbled a little.

“You want some help getting dressed?” Robby asked, keeping his patient care voice on.

“I…I might need it yeah.” You sighed as you fumbled with your underwear. Robby took them from your clumsy hands. He eased them up your legs, his fingers tracing up the skin and leaving goosebumps in their wake. He stopped at the top of your thighs, letting you take over.

“Hold onto my shoulders, step in.” He instructed as he got you into your sweatpants. You finished pulling them all the way on.

“Can you untie the gown?” You asked turning away from him. He hummed in agreement. He pulled the tie and grabbed the gown, tossing it in the laundry bin by the door. He grabbed your shirt and pulled it over your head, his eyes never leaving your back.

“Sit back down, I’ll put your shoes on.” He cleared his throat as he put the shoes on. You watched as he tied them tight, the muscles in his shoulders flexing with his movements.

“Thank you.” You hummed.

“Let’s get you home.” He said, holding out his hands for you. You took them and clumsily got to your feet. You wobbled a little, Robby steadying you with an arm around your waist.

The car ride was quiet, not suffocating but nearing comfortable. You let your head lean against the cool window. You were fighting the nausea, you didn’t know if it was from sedation or morning sickness. You were losing the battle.

“Robby. Robby pull over!” You gasped, suddenly bolt up right.

“Okay, Okay.” He moved the car off the road. You fumbled to unbuckle yourself, flinging the door open. Robby ran around to you, grabbing your hair as you retched into the gutter.  “You’re okay. Easy.” He helped you sit back up.

“Ew.” You groaned.

“You alright?” He asked, looking you over like the trained medical professional he was.

“Yeah. I think it’s fine for now.” You nodded.

You had always had a low pain tolerance. You would break down if you scraped your knee. The pain radiating from your abdomen made you want to break down completely. The walk from the car to your apartment was arduous. You leaned most of your weight onto Robby. He offered to carry you, but you declined due to concerns for his back.

“Okay, let’s get you some Zofran.” He said as you got comfortable on the couch.

“I don’t have any.” You grumbled.

“Yes, you do.” He came back in with the pills. “Had them filled yesterday. Perks of working in an ER.” He smiled, handing it to you. You took them happily.

“Everyone said it wouldn’t be too bad. The liars.” You groaned as you wrapped the blanket around you.

“Different for everyone, you know that.” Robby sighed. “Drink your water. I’ll be back.” He nodded and left. You were going to question where he was going but decided you didn’t really care. Your head felt heavy and you didn’t care to fight it, letting yourself fall asleep.

“Honey, you need to eat something.” Robby’s rough voice lulling you awake. Your apartment suddenly filled with the smell of food.

“Hmm, what?” You grumbled, confused. Robby was standing next to you with a bowl.

“You need to eat so we can give you something for the pain.” He said, handing you a bowl of soup.

“What’s this?” you asked, confused as to where the hell he had found soup in your apartment.

“Chicken noodle soup. My grandma’s recipe, so no jokes. Her’s was better, not sure how.” He shrugged.

“You…made me soup?” You looked up at him, confused.

“Yes. It’s got protein and iron, two things you need most right now.” He said as he lifted a book into his lap.

“What is that?” you pointed to the book.

“Well, I would have hoped you encountered a book in med school at some point.” He teased.  “It’s a book about emotional trauma. My therapist is making me read it.” He cleared his throat as he put his glasses on.

“You brought a book? How long are you planning on being here?” You cocked an eyebrow.

“Until you go to bed tonight. Or you kick me out, whichever comes first.” He said, not looking up from his book. You let out a huff, enamored with this strange man. You ate a spoonful of soup and were surprised by how good it was.

“Fuck that’s really good!” You blurted out.

“Gee thanks.” Robby chuckled.

“I didn’t know you could cook.”

“Cook is a strong word. I get around the kitchen well enough. I make pasta, soup and that’s about it. The soup is in the genes.” He winked.

“I don’t think anyone’s ever made me soup.” You sipped at the broth.

“Really? Your mom never heated up a can when you were sick?”

“Ha! My mother barely checked my temperature if I was sick. I was a nuisance if I was sick. She never stayed home to take care of me. If I didn’t look sick enough, I was faking. I heated up my own soup.” You shrugged.

“Every time you tell me more about your life, I get sad.” Robby laughed.

“Oh, please.” You swatted at him. “You don’t need to stay here. I’m going to be asleep, mostly.” You said.

“Someone needs to make sure you hydrate. You’re terrible at it.” He said, flipping a page. You were going to retort but felt the distinct gush of blood that told you, you needed to change your pad at the same time a cramp squeezed your insides. A finishing move from your reproductive system.

“Oh fuck…” You groaned, hunched over.

“You okay? What do you need?” Robby put his book aside and put his hand on your back.

“Cramps. Blood. The usual.” You groaned. “I need…I gotta go change.” Your face red.

“Okay.” Robby didn’t hesitate to help you up.

“There’s going to be blood everywhere, just turn around.” You warned.

“Oh please. Like blood has ever bothered me, you know better.” Robby chuckled.

“But it’s different blood.”

“Blood is blood and I don’t give a shit.” He shrugged. “You go to the bathroom, I’ll clean this up.” He nodded. You grabbed his hands and heaved yourself up. Sure enough, blood everywhere.

“Damn, I liked that couch.” You shook your head as you hobbled off to the bedroom to get changed. When you came back out, the couch was cleaned up and a new blanket lay ready.

“I got you some OTC pain meds if you need them.” Robby’s glasses sat on the end of his nose as he scrolled on his phone. “Your color is still a little off. Do you want some apple juice? I got one that has iron.” He offered as you stood in front of him, looking confused.

“You got me apple juice with iron?”

“Well, you need to keep your blood sugar up so it’s easier for you to replenish your cells and you are bad about eating well. I knew making you drink juice would be easier.” He said putting his phone away. You watched him for a minute, trying to understand this man that was taking care of you like it was the most natural thing in the world.

“Do you want to fuck me?”

“Whoa, what!?” He looked shocked, his face going red.

“I’m so confused.” You shrugged, going to sit back down.

“Are you feeling okay? Should I be worried about neuro symptoms right now?” Robby gave a nervous chuckle.

“Maybe it’s my bad luck with men or humans in general, but I’ve never had anyone take care of me, let alone to this level, unless they were trying to get something from me.” You wrapped the blanket around yourself.

“Honey, the fact that you weren’t looked after at any point in your life makes me want to take even better care of you.” Robby sighed, leaning on the back of the couch.  “To answer your question, no. I don’t want to fuck you.”

“Oh.” You said, your face flushed with embarrassment.

“I don’t want to fuck you because you just had an abortion and feel like shit. That would be very fucking weird of me.” Robby smirked. “But, if you’re asking if I have feelings for you, then yeah. I thought it was obvious.” He said.

“Obvious? In what world!?” You chuckled.

“I never wanted to make you uncomfortable. But you said that butterfly comment today, and even though you were high, I didn’t want to push it away anymore.” He sighed. “I wasn’t going to say anything tonight, by the way. Was just going to take care of you and go home. You forced my hand.”

“Jesus, Robby! You realize that all of this,” You waved your hands around the apartment and up and down his form. “would make any woman fall desperately in love with you? I already was, but you never gave a girl a chance!” You laughed.

“So, what I’m hearing is that you love me.” He winked.

“You were ready to beat up Darren for screaming at me,”

“Still debating on not doing that.”

“you googled how to take care of me in recovery, drove me to get another man’s fetus aborted, held my hair while I vomited, made me soup.” You scoffed. “Cleaned up my blood! I don’t even know the last time I had a man that didn’t cringe when I leaked through a tampon, let alone helped clean up! Of course I love you!” You shouted.

“Okay then!” He mimicked you.

“So, what now?”

“Now, you take those meds and drink some juice.” He said, looking at you like it was obvious.

“No. No, I mean with us?” You said, grabbing the pills and sipping your water.

“I don’t know. I’m leaving that at your feet, Honey.”

“Why do you always call me Honey? You’ve been doing that since I was a resident.” You cocked an eyebrow.

“You don’t remember? You were fixing up a wound and using an entire jar of Manuka honey on it, when I came in, you had it everywhere. I think that’s when I knew I was done for.” He smiled.

[weirdero]

I’ve seen a lot of people speculating that Gemma’s storyline will lead to a cloning reveal, which like, it’s a decent theory and wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. But god, this show is so specific and detail oriented Ben Stiller himself has even said nothing in the show is a coincidence. The cloning theory has also been shut down a couple times by some producers and writes from what I understand and idk I feel like a cloning reveal would just be so boring. And honestly, I don’t know if this is insane, but I’m fully leaning towards the idea that when it comes to Ms. Casey/Gemma, it’s more of a resurrection situation.

Okay so hear me out I believe our Ms. Casey is still physically Gemma her original body, her bones, her blood she’s alive baby that’s her but like also it’s not her. It’s like in horror or fantasy stories when a character dies and comes back but comes back wrong YK?. Physically it’s still them but it’s not them. In my opinion, her brain has been completely reset, wiping away whatever kind of person she used to be.

To back this theory I’ve been heavily leaning on the interaction between Ms. Cobel and Helena in the parking lot and just the general existence of the Mammalian Nurturable department.

Now, I might be reading into this too much, but I just love these characters so much and this show so please bear with me, this is a long one.

this season Harmony/Ms. Cobel is a problem. Like there is just no way she isn’t. Lumon is already struggling to keep it together after the scandal the main four caused, and a change in management isn’t helping. People are (probably) starting to pay attention, and they do not need that kind of heat. Ms. Cobel literally crashing tf out making herself homeless and sneaking around in the dark probably isn’t helping.

Helena’s choice of words have always stood out to me. She’s calculated, smart, and precise in how she speak just like Harmony. Both of them are masters at saying exactly what they need to without ever outright saying it yk? So when she she spots Cobel in the parking lot in the middle of the night she clocks her immediately.

Harmony walks out as if she still has a job in that bitch and has the audacity to tell Helena what her needs are and exactly how they should be met. And in my opinion, Helena is appalled but not surprised. She calls her out on her behavior.

“I hear ego, hubris, and arrogance. Kier teaches us they only cause pain.”

To me, this isn’t just a read it’s a warning. Harmony doesn’t take it. She bites back, calling Helena a NEPOTISM BABY. wild.

And I mean look at Helena’s face.

So Helena lays it out for her as plainly as possible

“We didn’t have to ask you back.”

No translation even needed, she just said it flat out Baby, we don’t need you here. You do not, no matter what you think, represent us. You are not Lumon.

And Harmony, being just as cunty clocks her shit right back

“You didn’t have a choice.”

At this point, Ms. Cobel isn’t just skating on thin ice she’s walking across a frozen lake in metal combat boots, her ass skipping around as if the ice won’t break. And that’s her mistake.

Helena, after giving Harmony multiple chances to walk away. Multiple chances to come back in on lumons terms. Multiple chances to stop playing in her fucking face, finally pulls back with a kind smile and offers her a chance to “restart”.

As they walk towards the car, Ms. Cobel locks eyes with Helena’s bodyguard and the instant terror is actually insane. Full deer in headlights.

A lot of people saw that shot and took it as a straight-up Sopranos esque death threat like, if she gets in that car, she’s not gonna survive the drive (RIP Audriana). And sure, it could be as simple as that, but this show is just way too good for it to be that simple.

I think Cobel recognizes the bodyguard. She knows him and I mean like fr knows him.

I saw a theory on Reddit suggesting that the bodyguard might be someone she knew maybe a former coworker, someone from her personal life (they suggested it could’ve been someone she was super close with before she even became the woman we know today) idk just somebody she knows knows and out of nowhere suddenly, he’s here, presented as Helena’s bodyguard. But it’s not him. It’s his skin, his bones, his blood but it’s not HIM.

And the way it plays out, it doesn’t seem like the bodyguard recognizes her at least not in the same way she knows him. That stare man that stare. I didn’t even know Harmony could experience fear. Who knows, maybe in that moment she’s reflecting on everything that’s happened. She bitched out the boss’s daughter in this empty ass parking lot on the brink of a mental break down, and suddenly there’s a chance to start over. All she has to do is get in that car, with that man, talk to the higher-ups, and hit the “reset” button.

Basically my theory is that Lumon are essentially grave robbing the fuck out of that town. Taking people who have been in serious accidents car crashes, house fires, construction site falls, factory explosion, hell even a drive by. I also think they’re also taking drug addicts, the homeless people who have no loved ones looking out for them, or even looking for them at all, the ones who are confirmed to be gone in every way, physically or emotionally. They’re taking these people and giving them a full system reset rebooting the computer.

By doing this, Lumon gets to create a free labor force that works 24/7 without question or resistance, exploiting people who have no emotional ties or support systems. Blank slate baby! They’re also using these individuals as test subjects for whatever weird shit they wanna launch out as a new product.

This helps explain a lot of the weird shit going on with the employees at Mammalian Nurturable. They look so rough and are also really off-putting towards outsiders. Which is understandable but I genuinely believe they haven’t even “clocked out” in days, if not ever.

Even though this theory makes the most sense to me, It still has its plot holes like if Gemma isn’t a clone and it’s her “resurrected” where does she go when she’s not her innie. In Season 1, she tells Mark she’s only conscious as her innie for a couple of minutes at a time, and the longest she’s ever stayed “alive” was the 8 hours she spent with his department. So where tf is she if not there as Ms Casey i don’t know man I do not know.

Anyways I have some other general curiosities about the town itself and why Lumon decided to build their main building there. I saw a TikTok video of someone saying it reminded them of company-built towns like Hershey Pennsylvania or Kodak Town, and I agree. Anywho I love this show so much it hurts I hope it never dies I literally missed having an obsession this intense I hope it gets all the love and awards it deserves!!

[deathlygristly]

For some reason I decided to read a Reddit thread on When The Phone Rings. Yes, I know, that's on me. But I've seen the sentiment on here too.

I guess it's what the kids call "antis"? Like this is a fictional show, none of it is real, and I seriously doubt any of the people watching will ever get switched for their older step-sister in an arranged marriage to the presidential spokesperson, who is the son of another chaebol family that's into politics. But then it turns out that the original son of the political family was a serial killer and the grandfather tried to drown him when he was a kid and then replaced him with the orphan who grew up to be the spokesperson. But the serial killer son survived the drowning attempt, and now the grown up serial killer son and also possibly the twin of one of the serial killer's victims is coming after the adopted son.

Like y'all are not going to be in this situation IRL, okay? You are not going to be in an arranged marriage with a man who is severely traumatized by seeing the drowning attempt, being taken from the man who had taken him in and raised him, and forced to live with people who did not like him and who controlled and abused him and who only wanted to use him to appear "normal" and "likable" so they could win elections and get political power.

And if you ever are in that situation for some reason, it's extremely unlikely that after three years of not communicating at all and pretty much being strangers you'll be targeted by a kidnapper, steal the kidnapper's phone, use the phone to finally communicate a bit, and end up with your husband revealing that he's obsessively loved you all along.

This is fiction. Maybe the female lead falling down a cliff and being fine and the male lead being in two explosions and being fine would clue you in on that? I don't know. Like someone said in the thread, these people must be why dramas all have a disclaimer now at the beginning saying that the drama is fiction and the events aren't real or based on anything real. Not that it helps.

It's just....it's weird and kind of conservative Christian culty how they're all "oh noes but young girls will think that it's okay if their husband doesn't talk to them for three years and is a bit mean!" If you're really worried about that then maybe you should be teaching your daughters or younger sisters or young female friends or students or whatever about boundaries and abuse and emotional awareness instead of not communicating with them at all, like how you say it's so bad that the characters are doing in the beginning of the show?

Also, okay, I've been married for 22 years and we started dating 25 years ago. I can assure you that the spousal person is awesome and our relationship is fine and healthy and the people at our favorite restaurant exclaim over us every time we come in and when I was in the hospital after gallbladder surgery the doctors called us "lovebirds." It's very easy to separate reality from fiction and to enjoy watching characters and stories that aren't your personal perfect ideal template of whatever and still have a healthy and enjoyable life.

If it's not easy for you, I think that's more a personal matter that you need to investigate and work on in your own life instead of judging and hating strangers online about it? Maybe you could look into resources for recovery from high control groups?

[cyren-myadd]

BTS of Spider

Look at his little roar! He's ferocious 😂

They're leaving Kiri behind 😭

These BTS images were shared by reddit user u/Shoddy-Magician-9470, and they're not technically new, they're from behind the scenes videos that were released ages ago, but they're new to me so I want to talk about them! These images could either be discarded stuff from Avatar 2 or stuff from Avatar 3 since the BTS images were taken when they were working on both movies.

I believe the first two images are discarded scenes from A2 because Spider doesn't have the forehead stripe or Metkayina garments we've seen him wear in BTS shots that are definitely from A3. The first one specifically reminds me of a deleted scene early in A2 where Spider, Lo'ak, and Tuk investigate a crashed Samson while exploring the jungle. Lo'ak climbs up first, so maybe this is Spider yelling at him or something. I also notice that Spider isn't wearing his Omaticaya armbands and his stripe pattern is slightly different from the movie in the first two images, so maybe those actually are from an early scene in A3 after all, but it could also be that they're just early test footage before they got his look finalized.

The last image is the most interesting to me, because this one looks like it could be from Avatar 3. It's hard to tell from the unfinished render, but Spider's waistcloth looks like the orange-brown sea grass one he wears in A3 not the dark brown cloth one he wore in A2. Lo'ak is also wearing ikran-riding leggings that we've never seen him wear before, and he's carrying a gun, which he only ever used once in A2 and that was on the Sea Dragon, not the jungle.

This reminds me of a specific BTS scene I've seen of Britain (Lo'ak), Trinity (Tuk), and the stunt doubles for Spider and Kiri running from something around jungle props while Lo'ak holds a gun. I believe this is the render of that scene, but this doesn't really give us much information. All we know is that at some point the kids will be back in the jungle together, Lo'ak will have a gun, and they're gonna be chased by something or someone. Maybe this is the scene leading up to them getting captured by Varang and/or Quaritch 🤔 The fact that Lo'ak has a gun also makes me wonder if Jake is going to teach the kids more about human weapons in A3. Maybe after hearing about how Neteyam died, Jake will wonder if Neteyam could've lived if he'd been a better shot with a gun and could've hit Wainfleet before Wainfleet had the chance to hit him.

What do you guys think?

[slyvieselkie]

A Man and His Family

After doomscrolling too much on Reddit and reading too many horrible family dynamics, I've come to the conclusion.

You marry a good man, or you marry a good family.

And this is what I imagine JJK families would be like.

Check out my masterlist for more!

Gojo Satoru:

I have no doubt that Mr Gojo here, would be the best husband. And I just know that his wife would fail to meet every requirement to become the Madam of the Gojo clan. You're normal in every way, and Satoru is obsessed with that.

Some will say to your face that your kimono seems too big, your hairpin too loose, your shoes too small. Satoru's anger bursts like a volcano when he hears this, all of this was nothing more than subtle digs to say, 'You don't belong in this household.' But you? You look down at yourself and smile innocently, "Oh I think they're just fine!". And everyone watches in shock as you walk off casually. Satoru merely chuckles, clearly your Limitless technique is superior to his.

And he sees the way you interact with the servants-I mean attendants. Yes, you've scolded him about calling them servants. "They're our retainers, Satoru! And her name is Fuyuki!", you growl as you force him to bow before the young girl. You never demand them for something, in fact, you go out of your way not to ask anything of them. And when you have to, it's always a sheepish question followed by an apology. 'But you're fine with kicking me out of bed to grab you a glass of water', he thinks bitterly.

And he loves the way you express yourself. In a household where everyone wears a mask, it's nice to see a smile, to hear a laugh, to wipe away a tear, to soothe your fury. When the elders call you 'childish' and 'emotional', Satoru makes sure to show what those words really mean. He literally flops down onto the tatami floor and wails about the ugly old men he has to see every day. When someone gets on his nerves, he'll trash the place and ban the person from his residence. Now that's what you call 'immature'.

So at night, when you two are able to finally rest, Satoru will turn to you with a smile.

And he'll say, "Thank you for marrying me. I promise to be your white knight, your keyboard warrior-". And he'll cackle as you attack him for ruining the sweet moment.

Nanami Kento:

Official job: Sorcerer, side hustle: defender of woman-kind. Especially, his woman. As can be expected, Kento's family is just like him. Reserved, aloof, 'uptight' as Satoru likes to say. And for someone like you, who wears your heart on your sleeve, it's a little intimidating and nerve-racking.

Since Kento is the only sorcerer in a non-sorcerer family, his family knows very little about his life. So when he brings you to meet them, they rationalise that you must be the reason why he's so secretive. They probe you with a million questions, what do you do for work, how did the two of you meet, what is your family like, what are your plans for the future. And when you return vague answers, they hum and murmur to each other, "It seems Kento learnt from her. I wonder what other terrible habits she teaches him?".

Your face falls, and you try to give an apologetic smile. His eye twitches. He knows they're just worried for him, and he understands their frustration, but it's not fair to blame everything on you. So Kento holds your hand and announces to everyone, "I don't like the way you're treating her. What happens between us has nothing to do with her. We're here today, because she encouraged me to go. I wouldn't have come here, if not for her."

After setting the record straight, Kento escorts you out of the house. You glance back at the fuming family and wonder if he should really be doing this. Opening the door for you, the blonde man smiles softly, "It's another habit you've taught me. To not take any shit from anyone."

With a grateful smile, you cup his cheeks and kiss him passionately. Thank god for this man.

Geto Suguru:

To anyone else, Suguru is the perfect man. Kind, sweet, gentle, calm, responsible, he seems like the perfect specimen. But I think his family can see pass that. They see the glint in his eye, they notice the way his smile changes subtly, they can hear the tone shift in his voice. Suguru's family sees the flaws that everyone else shrugs off. Meaning they'll never take his side so easily.

When you show up at his parents' house, upset and teary-eyed, they welcome you in. His mother helps you to the couch and speaks to you like you're a wounded animal. His father gives you some space by busying himself with tea in the kitchen. And you thank them for being so kind to a stranger. They reassure you that you are no stranger, that you became their daughter the moment you married Suguru.

When the home phone rings, your father-in-law picks up with a gruff voice. You smile as he immediately asks his son what he did this time, and Suguru grumbles how his own parents never takes their son's side. The old man scoff, "Don't take me for a fool, boy. If you treat your wife like how you treat us, then your marriage is bound to over soon!".

He continues his rambling, "I've never seen a boy lecture his own family as much as you! And I see the way you look at us when you think we're wrong! Tch, looking down on us like we're some monkeys! Guess what, you came from this monkey, you rascal!".

You and your mother-in-law giggle as Suguru gets a taste of his own medicine. When he shows up, a few hours later, Suguru holds your hand and whispers, "I'm sorry, I promise to treat you better. And if I don't, you can punch me as much as you want."

As they watch the two of you leave, Suguru's father clicks his tongue, "If only he would give me the same promise."

Fushiguro Toji:

There's one thing you need to know, Toji's children will never take his side. Even when he's right. They'd rather manipulate physics than accept that their father is right. Fortunately, they don't have to. Why? Because Toji is always wrong. That's why when you and Toji fight, Tsumiki and Megumi are so prepared to go and live with you.

"Oi, you two! Get in the car!", the two of them stand there and Tsumiki cross her arms, "What car?". Toji is about to snap when Megumi points at you, "That's her car, idiot. You take the train." Then the two of them stroll up to your apartment, where warm beds and home cooked meals are waiting for them. You stand there, speechless, before bursting into laughter. Toji sits on the ground, grumbling about his traitorous kids.

Your anger flies away with the laughter and you crouch down next to Toji, "Are you ready to talk like adults?". He's silent for a moment, before the man nods. With that, you grab his hand and lead him back home. Tsumiki and Megumi watch from the window, and high-five each other.

Another thing you need to know, the two of them are deathly terrified of you leaving. And if you don't follow your schedule to the exact second, they're pacing around and glaring at Toji. "You goddamn brats, she's just caught up in traffic!", he snaps and Tsumiki repeats him mockingly. When Megumi returns from home and sees you're not there, the boy drops his bag and sigh, "So she's finally decided to leave."

Ten minutes later, you open the door and sing, "I'm home~!", only to find Toji wrestling his kids. "DROP THEM NOW!"

Ryomen Sukuna: (smut)

If there is a single person who would take Sukuna's side, they are on the wrong side of history. For the King of Curses, the closest thing to family he has would be the numerous women of his harem. And they're well aware of what kind of person Sukuna is. Narcissistic, violent, rude, and huge pain in the ass. That's why when you fight with Sukuna, your first stop is the harem.

The women there, are like your best friends and older sisters. They coo and let you hide in their soft embrace. "Come here, sweetheart", "Tell us what happened", "Let us take care of you." They badmouth Sukuna to no end. "What an awful bastard", "I bet he died a virgin", "Even a man wouldn't bed that thing." Their gentle hands wipe your tears away. "Cease those tears, darling", "Why cry over that fool?", "I hear his new attendant is a charmer, why not check him out?".

As if Sukuna, or the harem, would let you stray away to another. For days, the King of Curses leaves you to heal with the harem. He eats alone, bathes alone, sleep alone, while you lock yourself away. And after a week, Sukuna has had enough. Servants stop and bow in fear as he passes, approaching the harem chamber, whilst thinking about what to say to coax you back home.

But Sukuna stops before the red doors, he hears the distant noises inside. Seductive voice cooing and giggling, your soft cries, and something that makes him see red. The door bursts open and all is revealed to him. His harem merely smirks as they crowd around your body, bare and glistening with sweat.

"O-Oh I'm cumming!", you squeal and thrash around. The women gasp excitedly as your juices splash everywhere, and they slither around you like greedy snakes. "Oh Uraume, you have to make her squirt again~!"

White hair lifts from in between your head, and his most trusted servant turns around. Their face is dripping with your juices. "As you wish."

Hi Lovelies, long time no see~! I hope you guys enjoyed this!

I was listening to 'Smosh Reads Reddit Stories' and the amount of terrible in-laws and husbands were absolutely shocking. I came to the conclusion that, marry a good man or marry a good family. And this idea was born.

Thanks for reading (๑♡ᵕ♡๑)

[ilikepjo24]

Lol another dumb take on reddit

https://www.reddit.com/r/CharacterRant/s/ER8SmBToSm

WOW! There are so many things to unpack here...

"Iroh, the most-" Iroh!? IROH!? THE Iroh!? The "redeemed" warlord that only gave a fuck about being a warlord after it affected him personally? That Iroh? The Iroh that left a child to bare the weight of a nation just bc he, the mature responsible adult, wanted to sit on his ass instead of being mature and responsible? THAT Iroh? It seems awful like both those actions appear to be those of a selfish and unempathetic person. And let's not forget that even after his "redemption" he assaulted June. So how exactly is he the most understanding and kind person in the show, exactly?

Would you like to know who actually is the most understanding and kind person in the show? AANG.

The boy who found it in himself to forgive and learn to have affection for the dude that chased him around the world and almost hurt/killed him and his friends multiple times. The boy who found it in himself to forgive the nation that genocided his people enough to want to help them, teach them their old ways and bring them back to the light. The boy that found it in himself to spare Ozai, a sadistic, manipulative, abusive warlord that wanted to watch the world burn in an attempt to satisfy his narcissism. And may the record note that Iroh did not extended his own brother the same mercy. He believed Ozai needed to die, when Aang didn't. So Aang is more empathetic, understanding and kind that Iroh.

And do you know what Aang has to say about Azula?

That he believes in her ability to do good and be good. That he trusts her to do so. He could have had her executed. He didn't. He could have taken away her bending. He didn't. He could have said she's born evil and a bad egg. He didn't. He put in a good word for her. He said she did something good. That can be good. THAT'S what the actual most understanding and kind person in the whole franchise has to say about Azula.

"She smiles when-" So did everyone else and so does everyone ever alive when justice is served. Because for the audience, the event was unfair and traumatizing. But for the people of the Fire Nation it was justice. And it's only normal for people to be happy when justice is served. When a groomer goes to jail you don't think "oh, that poor groomer", you think "good, this piece of shit definitely deserved it". Similarly, in the Fire Nation, an imperialistic dictatorship, when someone disrespects their Firelord, which they worship as almost a god (if not more, bc we see them worship their Firelord more often than Agni), and that person gets punished they don't think "oh, that like boy", they think "good, this piece of shit definitely deserved it". That's not called "being a bad egg", that's called propaganda and borderline mass brainwashing.

"She mocks-" She's repeating what she heard from adults in her life. That's not being a bad egg, that's bad parenting.

"She tortures-" Not cannon in any way. We've heard that she threw bread at them. Not only was that told from Zuko's pov, who's known to be a biased narrator when it comes to Azula, but it's also not even that freaking bad. It's bread, when it hits the water it becomes soft. No one ever died because they got hit by a loaf of bread. And she doesn't burn them with.

"Her mother's comments-" Oh, you mean the "what is wrong with that child"? That comment? That comment that was thrown at a child after doing a very normal childlike thing? I used to to play execution with my Barbie dolls and beheading them by pulling off their heads and my least favourites would always be the ones that got executed. Kids break toys they don't value and/or like. Azula is not obligated to like or value a gift that wasn't for her. The doll was a gift for every little girl. It wasn't personal. It wasn't hers. She doesn't have to like or value it. She doesn't have to not break it. The only reason that she chose fire instead of execution is because she had fire handy. That comment Ursa made was absolutely not justified.

"She's never given an excuse-" Not only is this take proof that media literacy is dead, it's flat out anti-intellectualism. We see that Fire Nation schools brainwash kids by shoving propaganda in their faces and we know Azula went in a Fire Nation school. All that's left to do is put 2 and 2 together. It's 4. It's fucking 4. Azula was brainwashed in the Fire Nation school that she went to that brainwashes Fire Nation kids. Canon fact. Use your brain.

"Her vision of what she wants is twisted-" What, exactly, is twisted about wanting to be acknowledged by your family that is proud of you, being loved by your family that is supposed to love you anyway, and completing the mission you've been brainwashed into thinking is the right thing all your life? What is twisted about reaching expectations and having a happy family? I'll wait.

"We're supposed to sympathize with the spi- No, we're not. The spirit is very obviously a liar and a manipulator as we've seen throughout the whole damn comic. And it wants to eat her. The spirit is the villain of the story that has been continuously twisting reality to weaken Azula's ambition and will to fight back, so that it could kill her. By the end of the comic we're supposed to know that the spirit is a full of shit and we shouldn't trust what it says, since all it has said throughout the whole comic is lies. Not sympathize with it.

"Rationalizations of her behavior are believe yet unprovable and based on subtext." It's almost like she's not the main character. The show isn't going to take time diving into her background. They are going to only give us subtext and we have to use our critical thinking skills and come to a believable conclusion, as we do. Zuko loving Ursa isn't outright stated at the show at any point, but we know it's a fact because we see it in the way they interact. We know his mother matters to him because he thinks of her and misses her. That's subtext. And we know Azula is not to blame for the person she was bought up to be because Fire Nation schools canonically brainwash their students. That's subtext. You can't selectively decide that this subtext is enough to prove this point, but that subtext doesn't prove that point because it's not outright stated. That's called double standards.

"The show portrays her as being inherently evi-" The show? You mean the same show that didn't even portray the genocider, treacherous dictator (Sozin) and the abusive, manipulative dictator (Ozai) as inherently evil went out of its way to portray the manipulated, abused, brainwashed child as a bad egg? ...Sure. That's what happened.

"Mai and Ty Lee do the same stuff but are portrayed differ-" No, they are not. Mai is portrayed as somebody who abused the power they have over others, since she views ordering servants around as a fun activity, and as somebody who has no empathy towards their family, as she didn't hesitate to agree that her brother has less worth than a king. Ty Lee is portrayed as sadistic, since she's animated to smirk and sneer while taking down soldiers defending their homes. I think she even goes as far as to mock them at sons point, but take that with a pinch of salt. They are portrayed to be classist, sadistic, unempathetic people that only give a fuck about the select few and mystery everybody else. Y'all just refuse to see it because Ty Lee is cute and is constantly infantilized because of it and because Mai protected your lord and savior, Zuko, right after she was done being classist and unempathetic. They are not portrayed as better, you just go out of your way to portray Azula as worst.

"Even in LoK-" Azula is given Freudian Excuse. You just refuse to see it because, as opposed to Legend of Korra, the creators do not chew your food up and spit it in your mouth for you to swallow. You have to put the pieces of the puzzle together and make realization. Which can understandably be hard for people that have a brain the size of a peanut, like yourself.

"It feels weird for a show like Avatar to imply somebody was evil from birt-" It feels weird because it is weird and it is weird because it's something they would never do which is why they didn't do it. You literally just created this narrative inside of your head while understanding that it goes completely against the philosophy of the show. And now it's weird to you that it doesn't align with the show? Make it make sense.

This isn't asking for an Azula redemption arc (although "this fourteen-year-old who was acting under orders of a tyrannical fire lord can't be redeemed" seems incredibly harsh), this is just me wondering why the writers consistently, across mediums, refuse to suggest that she's even the slightest bit a product of her environment? But Zuko gets a pass for pretty much everything more or less? Alright then lol.

This is close to being the smartest thing you have said during this post. Unfortunately it is easy to notice that some of the creators just don't like Azula. That's it. That's the reason why. They don't like her and they don't want her to have a happy ending. So it's good that somebody else is riding this show now. Faith Erin Hicks, as we see from her comic, is not afraid to treat Azula as the victim she is, and is not afraid to lay the blame on the adults that failed her. As opposed to previous creators, she seems to be willing to apply the general philosophy of the show in Azula's character as well. Which is something she's able to do because Azula is not, in fact, inherently evil. She's a victim of abuse and a manipulated child that has done some very fucked up things but has all her life ahead of her to grow up and be better.

Give us a scene of Ozai molding her into the cruel person she is

Supporting and praising bad behavior is enabling it. A good parent would say "I understand that you were upset at feeling as though you were underestimated when you got efficient results, but it's important to keep your cool and respect your instructors since they have more experience than you. If you feel as though the inability of this instructor to stray from traditional paterns is holding you back, communicate that problem with me, and I'll find you a new teacher if it's necessary." Does Ozai do that? No. What does he do? Praise her. What will Azula do in response? Repeat the same behavior to receive praise again. What is that called? Nursing cruel/bad behavior.

Give us a scene of Azula being at least a normal child at some point.

Stealing sweets at a sleepover and recreating scenes from a movie/play with your sibling? I recall doing both those things as a child. We're talking about universal normal child experiences.

Don't vindicate her mother being cruel.

The narrative itself is not excusing Ursa. Azula herself goes to lengths to hold her accountable, actually. The only ones excusing Ursa's actions are Zuko, who's looking at her through rose colored glasses, because she's one of the first people to show him love, and he wants to sing the best of her, and the fandom, for the same exact reason.

Have Iroh say something slightly more insightful than "she's a crazy bitch leave her alone"

Personally, I don't value Iroh's opinion at all. I think he has to work through the issues that he obviously has with himself, instead of projecting those issues onto Azula, which is what he's doing. But since you care about his opinion so much, here's him saying Azula has the capability to find peace.

Here's an easy one: instead of smiling when Zuko got burnt, Azula looks visually horrified. That tiny, tiny change would've made her far more nuanced! It wouldn't be much, but not only would it make the fire lord's actions seem even worse, it shows us that deep down, she does--or at least, did--care! This is more in line with the show's themes and far more interesting than "she's just gonna be super evil hehe".

Here's the thing. Azula doesn't smile because she's just so "evil hehe". She's smiling because Zuko is receiving a just punishment for his actions. At least as far as she's concerned.

Think about it, in the Fire Nation they treat their King as a god. They pray/say an anthem/swear loyalty to the Firelord and the crown every single day. It should be needless to point out that nobody would question the actions of the Firelord. They would just assume that this is the correct course of action because this is what the Firelord is doing.

Azula not only is a subject of that Firelord but she is the daughter of her father. She was 11 when the Agni Kai. At that age, kids do not question their parents. The think things are right because the parents do it. If Dad is upset with Zuko, then Zuko must have done something wrong, because Dad can't be wrong, he's Dad, he's never wrong.

So both as his daughter and as his subject, Azula has been conditioned from the day she was born to think that he's always right. So when he decides to punish Zuko, that's just another instance where he's right. So why would Azula be upset with him for being right? Especially considering that if she were upset with him, it's possible that you would also receive a punishment for disagreeing with his methods.

So imagine you are Azula. You see your dad, who is always right, and is also your king, who is also always right do something. Anything. Do you think to yourself "Why would he do that? That's bad!" or do you think "He's right for doing what he does because he's always right."? She's under the impression that he's a just ruler and father, so why wouldn't she be satisfied at the sight of him rendering justice to the foolish subject that disobeyed? Especially when having a different opinion can result to being in danger?

Do we get anything from the answer to her personality being "bad egg"?

No, we don't. Which is why this isn't what they did. You just have a false idea of pretty much everything regarding Azula's character and how it was handled.

Thus proven.

[projectcaramel]

Obey Me! Random Headcanon #18

The Undates + Luke's screentime

Diavolo

Average: 6 hours per day

Usually for work purposes, but when he gets sucked into games, he plays them whenever possible.

He doesn't let his D.D.D. fall asleep when he texts MC because he wants to make sure he doesn't miss their text back. *Person who frequently has to turn "Do Not Disturb" mode on (and forgets it's on) to stop his D.D.D. from sending him a notification every minute.

Barbatos

Average: < 10 minutes per day

Generally has no reason to use his D.D.D. unless it's to scold Diavolo talk to friends, but otherwise has little other motivation to use it.

This is not to say he never spends a lot of time with electronics. If it happens to be convenient and/or effective, Barb will not hesitate to use any of them for long periods of time.

Simeon

Average: 5 hours per day

We all know he's severely technologically challenged, and he generally does not use his D.D.D. when applicable. That being said, he surprisingly knows how to touch-type quite well (95 wpm) and will write for hours until Luke pesters him to please eat something.

Outliers for his D.D.D. screentime are generally days where someone engages in the monumental task of attempting to teach him how to use the device, where the victim volunteer can spend over 10 hours in a frustrating IT hell educating him.

Luke

Average: 2 hours per day

Luke generally uses his D.D.D. for recipes, similar to Beel, and puzzle games that Levi got him into.

Simeon used to check his screentime (with Levi's help) to make sure that Luke wasn't getting attached to his D.D.D. Although he now rarely does it and has conceded that Luke can probably spend longer on it, Luke rarely deviates from the 2 hour guideline he was originally given.

Solomon

Average: 7 hours per day

Spends a lot of time on ResearchGate, JSTOR, Academia, etc. along with Devildom sites like MallusR (Major source for current magic research), T-LCC (Three-Legged Crow Conglomerate)'s blog, and Deaddit (An open forum with striking similarities to Reddit).

His screentime easily fluctuates depending on who he's with, and with MC in particular, he does not use his D.D.D. at all unless they're doing something like watching funny cat videos.

-- Caramel: The global average screentime (2024) is 6 hours and 40 minutes. The recommended amount for adults is 2 hours.

No wonder my eyes hurt. --

[cho-aaacho]

(Hc's) Gamer Boyfriend! Gojo Satoru

Masterlist

Tags : Teen Gojo, Gamer Gojo, Classmate Gojo, Soft Gojo, Secret Crush, Best Friends to Lovers, Idiots in Love, Reader is Genderless.

The first time you met Gojo Satoru, you thought he was a typical basketball captain with a sunny aura emanating from him. He rarely talks to any other classmate; come on, he's so popular.

At that time, it was a nice summer in Tokyo. You and Shoko were cleaning the class, and he suddenly approached you, patted your shoulder, squeezed them a bit, and asked, "What is your Game ID?"

"Excuse me? I don't play such games, Gojo-kun."

"I'll teach you."

Such a weird boy, to be honest.

He brings two PSPs to school so you can play with him during lunch break.

"You know it's illegal to bring a console to school, Gojo-kun."

"Well, I have permission from Yaga-sensei. He gifted me that PSP as my birthday present. Hey, watch out; you'll lose."

He memorized all the gaming YouTubers' names along with their most-watched videos.

He wears a headband while playing games.

He is the leader of a gaming community's gang. It wasn't a bad gang; it was just a group of gamers who loved to share their interests.

He can spend 13 hours playing games on weekends, and he'll come out of his room only when his dad yells at him or when you visit his home.

Sleeping in class has become a habit for him. When he does that, he'll snuggle on your lap to hide his face from Yaga-sensei.

But Yaga-sensei always caught him.

His favorite song is Resident Evil—The Save Room, and he'll play that song while cleaning the classroom.

He always messages you when he's ready to play games. It almost makes you dizzy because he always spams you when you don't reply to him.

Despite how bad you are at the game, he'll teach you patience, talking in soft tones while guiding you step by step.

He rarely opens the mic, but when he does, he'll mock the other players and say how bad they are at the game. He's so aggressive, but you find it cute because he always tries his best not to include you.

"You're my best friend. I would never hurt you. Our team is just stupid; let's play another game, shall we?"

He loves Manga Cafes so much. He always invited you to join him and read all his recommendations.

"This manga is so good, but the MC is so lame and stupid."

Gladly to holding your hands in Akiba and making sure you don't fall or bump into someone else. His palm is so warm and big.

His mom loves you, and whenever he invites you to his mom, Mrs. Gojo will give you a nice and delicious cake along with expensive tea.

"Where's Satoru?" — Geto Suguru.

"He's in the manga cafes, I guess." — Ieiri Shoko.

Absent from school has been your weekly activity with him. But he doesn't want Yaga-sensei to catch you two. So you'll spend your time at his home, eating cake or ice cream, playing games, and taking a nap.

Of course, he didn't do anything else besides playing games or napping. He's a gentleman, after all. A good boy.

You can find him on Reddit.

He uses a combination of your name and his as a password for his computer, he even changes his Game ID to that.

He never cheats at games.

He is an admin of a Discord server and is talking about an underrated game.

"Hey, I know you and Satoru are close like a flower and water. But make sure to not miss my class, okay?" —Yaga-sensei

He hates Gacha games so much. He thought it wasn't a game at all. "My gacha luck is so bad this month. Oh, damn."

He has two different Twitter accounts. One with a cute avatar and only follows you. The other one he uses to share his gaming progress.

Gojo may be in love with you. Because every time you interact with someone else on the Discord server, he'll kick them; remember, he's an admin.

He loves to lean his head against your chest while playing games, and when he falls asleep, you let him be. He’s so dramatic but cute at the same time.

"Hey, I know it sounds crazy and lame, but hear me out. I don't know what will happen to us when we graduate. But I want to be your gaming buddy until we are old. Even if I have dementia, I will find another way to remember you."

"I want to spend my life with you, not only to play games but also to do everything with you. Because I love you."

[nicomoon69]

College AU (or a retirement job au?) where Bernard is a Biology Professor and Tim is a [doesn’t matter] Professor. For the sole purpose of this interaction:

Professor Drake accidentally enters the lecture hall Bernard was teaching in.

Professor Dowd, planning to use Drake as an example of how little we know about our bodies, asks “Professor Drake, could you tell me where your spleen is located?”

Drake replies, “Probably in a jar somewhere in Asia.”

Dowd: 😧

That interaction starts their enemies to lovers story. It was posted on the internet and it wants them to fuck

O MY GODS YES!!!! Bernard would hate Tim somehow being witty with the weirdest story ever and Tim would be so smug bc “HA gotchu”

and not to delve into headcanons but to delve into headcanons I think Tim should teach a language. like he somewhere while heroing does a smth part time and it’s something he already knows so he’s somewhat breezing through it outside of the like cultural side of the study (my preference goes for like Chinese or Ancient Greek) (also disclaimer idk how language studies work outside of the Netherlands so if that’s not how they work in the us mb) and then when he quits hero life does like a master before he ends up teaching at Gotham University (so this would be a retirement AU)

anyways I think them somehow not realizing its Bernard Dowd and Tim Drake from high school would be funny. like they’re beefing for months without ever noticing that “hey wasn’t that the weirdo I went to school with briefly” bc atp it would’ve been years (they’re like well into heir 30s I think) and neither of them rlly recognize the other outside of “hm this feels familiar but I’m not gonna look too deep into it”

also Bernard hating on Tim for being a rookie professor bc Bernard has been working at the university for years while Tim random ass decided after his master that “hey I mean since they asked me why the hell not teach”

and everyone at least somewhat knows of the homoerotic professor fights happening. like you said the internet wants them to fuck!!! someone made a reddit post or smth that blew up (and neither of them is aware bc Bernard learned to not be chronically online anymore and Tim quit the internet bc his psychologist told him to)

them realizing who the other is should also be the most anticlimactic thing ever. random student points it out and they both go “huh”

[all-pacas]

Miss pacas please teach me your character analysis ways. I desperately want to write fanfic and put characters into situation but I have no idea how to tell if anything is in character or not. How do I analyse these fake people on my screen??

well, since you used my formal name... god, i don't know! step one: be that super annoying kid in middle school english class.

practice! a lot of it really is that sort of "the curtains are blue" mindset. in middle school i was given a textbook that contained a ton of short stories and plays and poems, divided by theme, each one with discussion questions at the back. i still have that book. i remember reading flannery o'connor's "a good man is hard to find," and the question at the back of the book asked you to think about the line she would have been a good woman, had someone been around to shoot her every day of her life (i'm paraphrasing), and i can still remember that click -- not just reading the story, but questioning it: why do characters say what they say? what does that mean?

more practice! my not-often-talked-about-here obsession with the ASOIAF novels has actually been a useful tool: grrm is fantastic at writing pov, and the reddit sub is so full of desperate conspiracy theories (affectionate) that every line gets torn apart. but it's helped me recognize unreliable narration, recognize that characters can lie, and lie blatantly, and the narrative doesn't always have to stop and say "btw, this isn't true." one of my favorite asoiaf examples is that one character (jaime) has a bit of an unconscious crush on another (brienne). he never thinks the words "i fancy her;" instead, he'll be thinking of marriage and children in the abstract, a wedding he's heard about, and the next paragraph will start "brienne." repeatedly. many times. so, essay question: why does he keep making this association in his head? (another silly example: at one point in the books, dany meets three men. two she describes in a sentence or two each; the third gets a full paragraph of her admiring various features. which man does she later develop a crush on?)

so how's this work for tv? in a way it's easier, and it's harder. we don't get character monologues (although with house, both wilson and chase serve that narrative function at times -- speaking with the writer's voice to point things out on behalf of the characters). on the other hand, you get facial expressions and all that fun stuff. how does someone react to a thing? does this match their past attitudes? if it does, what does this imply? if it doesn't, what could it mean?

when house tells cameron in love hurts that "she does not love, she needs," what does that mean? we know house is a good judge of character, but what do we know about cameron? does this match what we see of her in other episodes? hm, not really. could it have been bad writing, then? a plot hole? do we weigh house's words over what we see on the show? what does it look like if house is correct, does this match what else we've seen? (if house is correct that cameron is drawn to sick and dying people and "needs" to be needed and fix them, why is she always presented as miserable when put in those situations?)

house tends to have a very cynical view on people -- everybody lies, etc. could this effect his own view point? is it a reflection of himself? could this affect what he's saying now? what reason does he have for saying this to cameron -- she didn't ask him. in fact, she just informed him that she believes he is in love with her (why does she believe this? why has she insisted on this, and why, simultaneously, has cameron never expressed any feelings for house to house?). why is "you don't love anyone" house's response to a love confession? is he telling the truth? does he have another motive? it is a form of rejection: he is trying to hurt her. why is he doing this? does it match his attitude toward her before now? (not really.) why have things changed?

can you take this stuff too far? absolutely. sometimes the curtains are blue. not everything is ten paragraphs of detail. but asking "why would he/she say that/do that?" is always an interesting starting point. maybe the answer really is as it appears, but sometimes it isn't. sometimes characters just kind of Do Things without reason, but on a well-written show or in a well-written book, they don't.

[fancy-graphics63]

Boxers Baby Sit Peter {Headcaanon}

With Mac Being a Boxer, And a Champian, He Doesn't Always Have time to be with his younger Brother, So, Here is a Little Headcanon for peter being baby set by the boxers.

Note:

I Did Share This Head Canon On Reddit First, But I Liked To Bring It Here On Tumblr This Is Based On My {And Some Others'} Headcanon, That Little Mac And SPO {SNES} Protagonist Are Siblings, With Little Mac Being The Older And SNES Mac {Who We Call Peter Punch Here} Is The Youngest

I Might Make A little Story About It, But Only God Know If I'll Do It Or Not

Glass Joe: Would Teach Peter About French Culture and maybe take him to a cafe {If peter was a good boy, he'll gift him a bag of french pastries}

Von Kiser: Might Treat Him Like How He Treat His Students, But Since Peter is a teenager, He Would Go A Bit harder on him {Still, he won't actually Hurt him}

Disco Kid: I Like To Imagine Disco Kid Having The "Rich Aunt" Energy, Where He Spoil Peter with Stuff, Plus Maybe dance together {Even when mac told him that peter should not listen to loud music}

King Hippo: Similar To Disco Kid But With Food, Taking Him To A Restaurant And Have a Very Big Meal, To Big That Peter Was in Shock {ofc the boy didn't eat much, but it was kinda fun}

Piston Hondo: Ofc, He's Gonna Be The More Strict One, And Teaching The Boy Some Manners, And Maybe Tea Break

Bear Hugger: Probably Would Teach Him How To Play Hockey, And Spend some times with ms.bear, also, he might actually act like a mama bear with him

Great Tiger: Somehow Peter Got Out Of Control That Led to Tiger To Use, Not 4, Not 5, Not 6, But 8 Clones To Keep Him Under Control {Promised To Not Babysit Again after it}

Don Flamenco: Would Let Carmen Help Him With Peter, And Maybe Try To Influence Him On Typical Romantic Stuff, Like Roses {Peter Finds It Weird}

Aran Ryan: No

Soda Popinski: They Won't Do Much, But Soda Would Buy the boy a drink {Juice to be clear}

Bald Bull: Ofc He Will Not be actually Aggressive, Giving Him Being an Uncle Himself {HC From Someone} He Know How To Treat Such a Young Teen

Super Macho Man: Either Be Another "Rich Aunt", Or simply would not babysit at all

Mr. SandMan: Either 2 Things, Peter Finding Sandman so scary that he can't say no to him, or Sandman trying to BE Scary To make peter listen to everything he say {the difference is, our pete is not scared of sandie}

Bonus

I Saw Someone HC That He's Little Mac's Uncle so

Pizza Pasta: Would Gladly Take Care Of Peter While Mac Train {Also He Make Him Help Him In The Kitchen}

[thatrandyalexfroma03]

Tommy/Lucy/Zach - lunch break suffering

Another Zach WIP, because I apparently can not focus on one project.

In which Tommy and Lucy try to teach Zach a lesson in Nice Guy TM:

Some days Tommy wonders if Zach is going to survive to his twenty-fifth birthday.

Not because the idiot does something reckless on the job, although he does that to a point that Tommy feels for Bobby dealing with Buck and he’s not even Zach’s captain but more because he’s pretty sure Lucy is going to snap and kill him with his bare hands.

Case in point:

Lucy is on break, sitting in the sunshine with her protein bar at one of the picnic tables when Tommy joins her. It’s nice and peaceful, the sun is shining and everything is fine.

Until.

“Damn,” comes a voice from behind them. “Someone call the cops, ‘cause it should be illegal to have this much sexiness in one location.”

Lucy doesn’t even flinch. “Zach,” she says coolly, “how nice of you to ruin…sorry I mean join us.”

Tommy smothers a grin as Zach plops himself on the tabletop with his phone in hand, sunglasses on, ego fully charged.

“Juicy Lucy and Tasty Tommy,” Zach greets with the kind of confidence only someone utterly lacking in self-awareness could muster. “What’s good, team?”

Tommy glances at Lucy, who rolls her eyes though it’s more fond exhaustion than actual irritation at this stage. Early days. Hope still flickers.

“Peace. Quiet. Intelligent conversation,” Lucy replies sweetly, biting into her protein bar.

“I could do with some of that intelligence.” Zach said, tilting to look over at the other two as Tommy hid a laugh behind a cough and Lucy smirked.

“Could you, Zachy?” she asks, tilting her head. “Could you use some intelligence?”

Frowning for a moment, as if he could almost tell he was being mocked but unable to quite grasp it, Zach instead opted to go for his question, or statement as he looked at his phone.

“Okay, real talk,” he begins. “Why do chicks always say they want a nice guy but then go get railed by half the party and end up single moms? Like, what’s the deal?”

The silence that follows is seismic.

Lucy shifts, in her spot, in her body language and in her face as Tommy tries to educate his rapidly offside probie and offer him a way out of getting murdered.

Tommy immediately tries to throw a verbal life ring. “Zach,” he corrects gently, “maybe you wanna… reconsider that phrasing?”

Zach squints at him, baffled of course because why have an inch of critical thinking in that head of his “Why? It’s literally facts. Like, hashtag sorry not sorry, but all these skan…” 

Zach is cut off and there’s a solid ‘oof’ noise as Lucy smacks Zach hard in the chest      , although clearly not as hard as she would like to. 

“Hey! That was uncalled for, Tommy saw that too.”

“Tommy agreed with it.” Tommy corrected and now Zach looks doubly betrayed because there is not a single brain cell in his over gelled head. 

He sits up, swinging his legs around so he’s seated between them, hands flailing for dramatic effect. “Hold up, no, no, no.Look right? I spent like the whole week helping this chick and her sister, from lifting their bloody boxes, carrying groceries, being a total gentleman and then get this right? She fucking friendzones me and ends up getting railed by, like, two guys at this party last night. Two. So tell me right now what is even the point of being a nice guy?”

Tommy leans back, folding his arms. “Well, you are a nice guy, Zach.”

Zach brightens. “Thank you! Someone gets it”

“No,” Tommy corrects, “you’re a Nice Guy™. Capital letters. Trademarked. You were only being nice because you thought it’d get you laid.”

Lucy nods. “And now that it didn’t, you’re acting like the world owes you something. Which makes you... what’s the word?”

“A douchebag,” Tommy supplies.

“Exactly,” Lucy agrees. “A self-pitying, fedora-wearing, Reddit-scrolling pig in a man suit.”

Zach points, scandalized. “Okay, first of all, I don’t even own a fedora…”

“Yet,” Lucy mutters darkly.

“And second, how am I being the asshole here?”

Tommy gives him a long, tired look. “Because you think kindness is currency. You act like it’s a transaction. You deposit some boxes, and in return, you expect sex.”

Lucy chimes in, voice cool as ice. “Women are not vending machines you shove kindness coins into until a blowjob falls out, Zach.”

Zach looks between them, clearly trying to calculate the odds of digging his way out of this and realizing he forgot his metaphorical shovel. “Hold on, hold on a moment, I never said that, what I said was instead of picking me, a nice guy who would have taken her to the movies, she chose out of her own free will to be gang banged by two dudes at a party last night.”

Lucy stared at him, unimpressed. “And?”

Zach chewed his bottom lip. “What do you mean and?”

“I mean, is it wrong for a single girl to have fun?”

Zach threw his hands up. “Well, I mean depending on the state…”

Tommy groaned and dropped his head into his hands.

Lucy didn’t blink. “Okay. You’re officially done talking. You’re on conversational probation.”

Zach gestured wildly. “I’m just saying! I was respectful, I was totally chill”

Cue no answer from Tommy and Lucy, just a disappointed look.

“Okay fine Mister and Misses know-it-all…” he says slowly. “So... hypothetically... what should I have done?”

Tommy tilts his head. “Maybe just be nice because it’s the right thing to do.”

Zach shakes his head, “Uh, dude, I’m not here to make friends, I’m here to fuck, like why the fuck am I being nice to these bitches just so we can hang out and get coffee? No, I’m nice to them so they sit on my dick”

Lucy looked pained, and torn being smacking Zach and walking away, “Fuck, you really can be a sexist pig, you know that right?”

“Uh newsflash, I support women, I always tip big at the strip bars and I voted for Kamala and Hilary.”

Lucy bit her lip hard enough Tommy was worried she was going to chew through it before she took a breath, “I’m sorry, you expect me to believe Alpha man Zach Anderon, worshipper of Andrew Tate and his heathen voted for Kamala, and Hilary… you didn’t vote for Trump, at all?”

Confused by the change in subject, Zach actually looks deep in thought, “ I mean, I guess I kinda should tell people I did vote Trump because then I’d be supporting a winner but like, nah not for me, he’s kinda gross right? Like have some class bro.”

Tommy is also lost for a second, and maybe impressed, it’s hard to tell. 

Although it comes crashing back to earth in a heartbeat. “And like who would want to deport all those sexy latina’s am I right? Tan skin and tequlia, we should be importing more of them.”

Followed up by an oddly relevant political comment (sort of?) given Tommy whiplash ….

“Plus, I don’t get all the who-rah over Hilary having emails, everyone has emails… and then like, oh my god, she likes pizza, dude everyone likes pizza.”

“I think it was the fact she was storing them on a private server.” Tommy answered. “We won’t touch Pizza-gate because that is a load of rubbish.”

“Well, I’d let her store my email on her private server.” Zach says with a wink and a nudge. “You just know under that stone cold persona is a freak waiting to be unleashed.” He then leans in, which Tommy knows is going to be terrible because Zach’s face tells him he think it’s going to be amazing.

“Picture it right, the world is in strife, she’s sitting behind that desk in the White House, finger over the big red button while I’m just eating that pussy out. Imagine telling that to the next generation, while the world was on the brink of war I was eating out the President.” 

Yup, Tommy was right, that was terrible. 

Lucy makes a noise and Tommy just looks away as Zach looks at both them before frowning, “Please, now you’re being sexist dudes, like if her husband can get a blowie in the White House then why can’t Hilary get some Zach-juice on her power suits, equal ops no?”

Rubbing her chin, Lucy looks over to Tommy, “Why do we let him talk to us?”

“Because I’m the coolest person you know.” Zach answered, “Anyway, you guys got distracted and didn’t answer my question.” 

“Maybe,” Tommy says after a beat, “You should take your own advice about politics when it comes to dating”

“T-Bone, I do not follow whatever you’re trying to say.”

Tommy resists the urge to sigh but only just, “Trump…” he prompts, referencing Zach’s comment about having some class. Zach does not get the reference, which to be fair, Tommy should have seen coming a mile away.”

“Grab them by the pussy? I dunno, like that kind of goes against that whole consent thing you keep waffling on about.” Zach chews his bottom lip again, “besides, I know you’re like gay, but have you tried grabbing a pussy, like they’re not made for grabbing, they’re made for….”

Lucy was going to kill him, “Is ‘Grab them by the pussy’ your advice?” 

“No of course not, it’s what Trump said, but Tommy said…”

“I meant,” Tommy said slowly because comprehension was apparently not a thing, “have some class. Be a gentleman. Not because you want to get laid but because it’s the decent thing to do.”

Zach nodded slowly, like he was processing the information, then ruined it again not even a second later.

“Okay, but I do want something. So like…”

“Zach…”

“For fuck sake, you were young right dawg? Like you must know what it’s like, all you want to do is suck cock as much as you can before you get all sad and old like you two.”

There’s another silence before Zach goes bright red, “I meant, wait no, clearly meant getting my cock sucked, as much as I can, by so many chicks… just so many chicks, sucking my dick,not the other way around.”

“Clearly,” Lucy said dryly, biting off each syllable like it hurt her soul to even speak to him. “So, let me ask, are you actually upset because you want something with her? Or are you just mad that she’s fucking someone who isn’t you?”

Zach looks put out at the question, because all three of them know the answer. 

He shifted in place. “I mean… I’m not looking to get married or anything. That’d be wild, right? I’m still young. Untameable. You can’t just…like…lasso this,” he said, gesturing vaguely at himself like that explained everything.

Tommy gave him a flat look. “Right. A real wild stallion. Roaming free across the land, shirtless, reeking of Axe Africa, and covered in budget tattoos that look like they were drawn during a minor earthquake.”

Zach clutched his chest like he'd just been mortally wounded. “Excuse moi! These tattoos are art, bro. Literal art. Each one tells a deep, emotional story about who I am as a person.”

Tommy didn’t bother to try and even dignify that with words. Instead, he grabbed Zach’s arm and twisted it around, presenting the inner forearm to Lucy like it was Exhibit A in a courtroom. “Right. And this one?” He pointed at the block of Thai script, three whole sentences, inked in slightly wobbly lines.

Now, Tommy knew what it said, or at least what Zach believed it said. That wasn’t the point. The point was to shame him.

“Dude I’ve told you a million times, bro. It’s an ancient Thai proverb. Real spiritual stuff. It has some mystic power that makes women want to sleep with me. Something about like, ‘power, strength, and... fertility.’”

“See,” Tommy deadpanned at Lucy, “Deep and meaningful.”

Lucy pulled at her phone and took a picture of the tattoo, which Zach loved, “You like the ink Juicy?”

“Call me Juicy one more time…”

Tommy grabbed Zach’s arm, “Don’t” he warned because Zach was stupid enough to do that. 

Lucy ran the translator app over the photo, and it wasn’t perfect because it was ink on skin and the app was only an app and not a person but she got a rough idea of what it said.

She blinked at the screen a few times, oh this was gold. Then, keeping a straight face, looked up at Zach.

“So… who told you what it meant?”

“The Thai lady who did it,” Zach replied full of confidence. “She told me right after I got it done. I was in Thailand, remember? Because I am a man of culture.”

“Huh, right, and did you do any research into it.”

“Um, no, I can’t read Thai, but you don’t have to be able to read it for it to work, it just has to be on your body.”

Lucy grinned wide, almost pitying. “And it is on your body, forever, lucky you.”  

“Anyways, this isn’t about my frankly amazing taste in art work, this is about me putting in the effort and getting nowhere.”

“I know, and even with the tattoo. It’s a mystery.” Tommy agreed mockingly. 

“But,” Zach continued, ignoring the sarcasm like it was a background hum, “I dunno. We could’ve dated for a bit, you know? After all, she said I was cute, right? And funny! I sent her fire memes!”

Lucy gave Zach a mock sympathy look. “And she still didn’t throw herself at your feet? Shocking.”

“So let me get this straight,” Tommy said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You wanted to sleep with her. She didn’t want to sleep with you. And now she’s… what was the word? A shank?”

Zach clicked his tongue a few times, like he was about to drop some hard truths.

“Okay. First of all, I didn’t say she was a shank. That was, like, implied shade, maybe. But second, you gotta admit right? Like it stings a little when you play the long game and then some fucking random dude who doesn’t even have abs just rocks up and ruins it before it even beings yo. Like he wasn’t even hot T-Bone and the other guy, well, he was alright I guess, had a cute face.”

Lucy leaned forward, eyes narrowed. “Did you ever, even once, tell her how you felt?”

Zach screwed up his face in disgust at the notion. “Uh… no? That’s gay man”

Tommy already had the fuck off face ready for when Zach turned to him, “Not like you’re gay, your a cool gay. A very manly gay, like…” gesturing at Tommy, “Very Daddy T.”

Lucy “I can’t believe I’m wasting my lunch break on this, but what are you looking for Zach?”

“Huh?”

“Don’t huh me, what are you looking for? A one night stand, a girlfriend… a boyfriend?”

Zach opened his mouth. Closed it. Looked genuinely, almost tragically confused. “Ahh, like Luce why would you think I would want a boyfriend, like I’m completely straight…”

“As an arrow.” Tommy added flatly. 

“Or spaghetti.” Lucy said with a grin.  

“Right weirdos, anyways, like why does this even matter?” Zach sulked, as if he was the one being harassed.

“Because,” Tommy stated, “If you were looking for something more, like a relationship then it’s okay to be sad that it didn’t work out, but you still can’t call her a skank. If you were just looking for a one night stand you definitely can’t call her a stank for sleeping with someone else when you had no commitment, and no, meme’s do not count.” 

“Reserve that for when someone cheats on you, then it’s acceptable, but otherwise, it’s just being a pig.” Lucy commented.

Zach raised his hands, exasperated. “Wait a minute, I can’t call her a c, but you can can call me a pig? How is that fair?”

[sailingfireshipz]

Because @stellariders & @chicagofires are fueling this fire & I have very minimal self-control, here we fucking go.

First, let me preface this rant with the following context. This situation triggers me so much because I am a WOC in a predominantly male industry so I see myself in the struggles that Stella has been exposed to & it's simply not fucking fair. So this take will be framed from my POV...Perspective & Perception. The fact that I have to preface this rant with the above statement instead of just saying how I feel is exactly the fucking point I'm about to make 🙃

(Grab a snacky snack)

"You have to be what?"... you have to be 2x as good, work 3x as hard, to receive HALF of the recognition, praise, grace, & chances. They can fail upwards or even have a promotion fall into their hands "cough cough" whereas you have to drive yourself up the wall just to prove that you're worthy of the opportunity. Because ONE mistake can & will follow you throughout your entire career. & that constantly plays in the background, like static when it comes to Stella Kidd. & I feel like Stella knows that, which is why she came in, did her job, did it damn good, & proved that she can hang with the best of the best at 51 but it was never quite enough for some people & i wonder why. There's never been a moment where she has been above reproach or criticism. How can she be out of fear of being labeled difficult, aggressive, or hard to work with as the only "broad on truck" & let me be clear I'm using that term & phrase because thats exactly what Hermann said when she joined truck 81.... yuck! Anyway, how can she make a mistake when the few mistakes she has made have followed her. She fucked up in 7x02 why is it S10 & Casey if implying she can't come with him when Severide & squad 3 were under water because she might be to emotionally charged. (LOL excuse me but didnt you jump out of a moving firetruck when your poor Sylvie was hurt, hypocrite much?) Didn't see Brett or Violet volunteering to hop on the boat & Stella is a trained paramedic or EMT so she would have been an asset. She messed up in S8 so why did they just take away her teaching at the academy versus addressing burnout & how to prioritize her time to be able to do both, because she was & is fully capable of doing both she just needed direction & support...She made a mistake in S10 by going mia & she apologized profusely for it but it still felt like Kelly held back & almost iced her out a bit longer than necessary. But in S9 when he royally messed up she immediately took him back & told him she wasn't going to let him get away again even though it wasn't her fault, he iced her out to begin with. Oh not even touching on the fact that him icing her out in S9 absolutely fucked with her confidence in her abilities to the point she almost skipped out on the LT exam.....🙂

When her CAPTAIN no less saw her burning it on all fronts in S8.. what did he do? How did he act? Was it with compassion or care, or did he get snappy & reprimand? Did Stella argue, talk back, or provide excuses? No, instead, she took accountability for her actions & tried to do better even though she KNEW she was drowning & overwhelmed. Instead of creating a safe space for her to be like hey captain, I'm struggling prioritizing how you manage she went internal & pushed herself to the brink of self exhaustion that she could have killed herself or someone else.

So let's talk about how Gallo on the other hand came in & had his own share of potential life or death mistakes with Casey & how he was down right disrespectful to Pelham & how he was inappropriate in the attitude & tone he took with Stella when questioning her about Carver. I never saw fucking reddit think pieces on how disrespectful, cocky, arrogant or annoying he was. Nope! He got a pass & a slap on the wrist time & time again. Casey even sat down with him, bought him a beer & they talked it out. So why couldnt Stella get that same grace? Yet when Stella very respectfully told Pelham "hey hesrd you are a great ff but I'll have to see for myself" parts of this fandom erupted, calling her all types of jealousy , entitled, etc. Never once saw Stella defy Pelhams commands or undermined his leadership. I did, however, see her lay her budding career down on the line for a man she barely knew but did it because it was the right thing to do.

Casey was ready to cut Gallo loose on HIS FIRST fuck up after Boden told Casey he didn't want him at 51 because he was reckless. Had it not been for Boden providing Casey with Gallos' backstory, he would have cut him loose, i believe. Funny how Boden had to tell Casey about Gallos family history but Stella took it upon herself to try & work with & get to know Carvers backstory AFTER Boden, her mentor, her father figure & CHIEF told her who her next replacement on 51 was going to be.... Funny how the most turnover truck saw in 10 years was Jimmy, Gabby (chose not to return to truck) & Otis yet Stella is 2.5-3 years in & she's had to navigate through Mason, Gallo, Gibson, while dealing with shit from Carver & Damon.... you see the picture I'm painting here!?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but outside of Carver... who else has Boden forced his officers to take on their rig when they were explicitly against it..... I'll wait. Oh, but because "he's 51 material," you have to find a way to manage his bullshit & if you rewatch S11, Carver had a lot of BS. And I know we like Carver now because they abandoned the I have a crush on my married LT storyline, but I had actually forgotten how bad he was as an EMPLOYEE!

He is hot tempered & showcased high levels of aggression & anger in the workplace. Imagine Stella getting upset & punching or throwing things. Yelling at her LT or engaging in behavior that would have landed her in jail. Did we forget that this incident in S12 is Carvers' second physical altercation with a civilian... Never thought I'd be referencing Emma Jacobs, but one incident in the file is a hiccup.. two looks like a pattern of him not being able to control his temperament. We've seen Stella drunk ONE time because she'd been transferred out & they acted like she was being biligerant (go back & watch the scene & just look at how they're looking at her). Carver, however, is allowed to get drunk thrown in jail, call his LT to bail him out & Stella's supposed to what? Take it, leave her damn job in the middle of the night just for him to not be apologetic at ALL & then tell her oh this needs to stay been us. LMAO EXCUSE ME WHAT!!!!? & it would be one thing if this was a one off but AGAIN nope later in the SAME season he didn't just get himself into a physical altercation but dragged Gallo, Mouch, & Ritter into it also because he refused to REGULATE & walk away.

But wait, there's more. Remember how he went off on his LT in the locker room because he was upset & then proceeded to get drunk & call out on one shift & NCNS on another leaving her with no time to find a decent floater... & even after Kelly explicitly told her that she would lose no respect if she cut him loose, what did she do... she went to his apartment to check on him, make sure he was alright & gave him ANOTHER chance. Matt Casey, Kelly Severide & Hermann would absolutely never & I'm not saying it's a bad thing that Stella gave him so many chances what I'm saying is i don't feel like her reasoning behind all the chances were actually her own but more so rooted in not wanting it to be a failure on her part in the eyes of Boden. & that for me is problematic as hell.

Even in S12... for Carver to get into that restaurant brawl & immediately take furlough afterwards was just such a cowardly move because here you are AGAIN leaving your LT high & fucking dry on truck during a crirical time no less with Boden being up for that promotion!

Now, moving into this Damon storyline, I'm going to reserve a majority of my thoughts until we actually get to see it play out. However, one thing in the finale that was alarming to me was Stella's conversation with Violet. I interpreted it as Stella had all intentions of cutting Damon loose. He was a floater, she owed that man no loyalty & she specifically said she was in no rush to lock anyone down permanently after the Gibson issue. However, again, it felt like Stella decided to keep him on longer because of other external factors. ie: Carver leaving her high & dry again & Kelly seemed to like him. Those to me aren't good enough reasons because she's not making decisions that honor her experience with this man rather than those around her.

The reality is that Stella could have lost her command or even worse because of that brawl. That man could have reported them to the CFD brass, called the cops, blasted them in the media & SUED the CFD. & the first thing they would have asked Stella was why she did not have control of the scene or her direct reports. They would have hung this on her & the old hags at CFD would have been like see this is why women shouldn't be officers." Blah blah blah. The repeecussions would have been so much greater for Stella & could have derailed what shes worked so hard for & the fact that Carver & Damon don't get that irks me because they should have NEVER put her in that position to begin with. You don't bring reproach on your leader especially when your leader has run through walls to protect you, bailed you out of jail, hell thrown herself on top of you to shield you from a blast, etc.

& so in conclusion my next gripe is with the writers & showrunners because I wonder if they know. I wonder if they know & they're choosing to reinforce these stereotypical experiences without effectively addressing them. I wonder if they know that they're not romanticizing it all & that its not cute or funny but infuriating that it feeds a part of this fanbase that's actually disgusting & rooted in misogyny. Or maybe they don't know & it's a mixture of unconscious bias/ ignorance.

Regardless, it's 2024 & I'm tired of it! 😫 I'm all for showing the reality & challenges that women or woc in the CFD face on a day to day but I feel like why not use it as a platform to show that just because it's embedded in the systems doesn't make it right nor does it make a requirement for Stella or any other female officer to have to endure the shit. She should be able to fucking fire or discipline Carver, Damon or whoever on HER rig without being questioned on whether or not her emotions or personal experiences are clouding her judgment because she's earned that right. She studied, she worked her ass off, she took the test, she passed & she's the LT. She shouldn't have to explain why she gave Carver or anyone certain assignments because guess what? No assignment is too big or small when lives are on the line, right? She shouldn't have to feel obligated to keep Damon on her rig just because now he's her long lost BOL that withheld the truth from her his LT & even when he decided to come clean it wasn't to her his LT. I am praying that is not the narrative they push in S13 but tbh I wouldn't be surprised because they've already set the groundwork for it. She shouldn't have to explain her reasoning or endure another year of unprofessionalism on her rig all because the patriarchy will get upset that a woman is leading/ discipling men. Reading the comments on how Stella disciplined them in the finale really bothered me because yall can't be serious! Stella had ever right to be upset, to express that frustration & disappointment with them because at the end of the day, that was her scene, her fire fighters & her responsibility as the officer in charge.

It feels like the men on the show are allowed to have their emotions, their traumas, their demons & it be brushed over or romanticized with little to no consequence. However, that same grace is not extended to the strong female leads that have just as much trauma, pain, or demons. They vilified Gabby for hers & they try to do the same to Stella. it's not fair because if they were males, we wouldn't have the conversations of "Stella leading Grant on" "Stella putting people lives in danger" or "Stella's on a power trip & has let her rank go to her head"

I know that was a lot & if you made it to the end of this rage rant, thank you. This has been something I've been sitting on since S11 & tbh it feels good to get it out! 🥹

[bartletslesbians]

... so do most people take "Columbia" to be Columbia University, and not Colombia the country? I always thought Toby meant he was spending time in the Physical location of the country. That's (one of the reasons) why Andy wasn't with him and why Jed didn't ask about the kids, but about where he was. Cause he was away from them in another country.

"Not such a bad place to spend some time.".

With 'place' and 'spend some time' I always thought it was the country, not teaching at a college. Though I might be literally the only person to think that lol

I've definitely seen that assumption reddit before! It never crossed my mind that it might've been Colombia the country, cause on the subtitles I had on the episode (I can't go back and check HBO now cause they removed it from a lot of non US countries) it just said "Columbia", which given that he's from New York made sense to me?

It's never specified what he's doing there; it could, technically just as easily be a month long project and then he's back in DC. But I like the idea that he was there as professor more longterm! Toby seems like someone who would make a great college professor (and one of those teachers some people are terrified of but everyone appreciates having for any given course), and I love that career for him after politics obviously stopped being a feasible option.

I took the "not a bad place to spend some time" as a little nod to the confession and trial that was to come, but again that could easily be an indication that it's not a longterm position at all!

But it is such a shame that the twins aren't mentioned at all in the epilogue; which makes sense given the way Jed and Toby parted, there's still a lot of tension, but I would've loved to know how that family is doing at that point.

[writing2changetheworld]

Smosh Reads Reddit Stories (June 21st, 2025) - Post 1

All questions in this post are rhetorical unless specified otherwise

I just watched the newest Smosh Reads Reddit Stories and I have a lot to say. (I'm not sure how many parts there will be but I'll write in the last one when it's the last one.)

I'll be honest: this post took me awhile to write because I'm so incredibly angry. This isn't one where I could watch the video and immediately post.

At the end of the first story, Damien [Haas] says he has never used Siri and he just looks at his phone. He then imitates someone asking Siri what time it is.

This is another great example of what I mean when I say disabled people can also be ableist.

The anon who told me about this ableism in this video told me Damien uses a mocking tone to imitate people using Siri. I can't hear how he said it because I'm deaf, but seeing how he changed his facial expression for that one line, he was definitely mocking.

Also, what about when someone loses their phone?

What about people who have whatever disability and can't look at their phone?

Now, there have been (and probably will be) people who argue "he didn't mean disabled people who can't look at their phones! He meant people who can and don't!" Except he didn't say that. At all. And disabled people are constantly told we can do something we say we can't, we're just lazy and unwilling. (Also, the ableism of the word "lazy" I'll talk about later.) You can't just look at someone and automatically know their capabilities. Just because you can do something doesn't mean everyone can.

In regards to him saying "I don't see the need for myself...": Great. You want a medal? You want applause for never having a handful of groceries or, again, being disabled and unable to look at your phone or whatever yourself?

The anon who told me about this also said they use a Siri alternative for accessibility. Some people also use Siri itself for accessibility.

In publicly expressing my anger with him, I've been accused of being ableist towards autistic people (mostly autistic men). Damien being autistic does not mean he doesn't know what he's saying and/or doing. Also, considering he's probably experienced ableism in his life, I personally would expect him to know better than to say and do that.

Thinking about it, I'm kind of shocked they kept this (and other things I'll talk about) in. I know ableism and outright hate against disabled people is still "normalized", but with all the mistakes Smosh makes, I would think they would become more careful and make sure their cast members are less offensive and hurtful.

This also shows me how important ableism Reddit Stories episodes would be (not just the occasional story here and there in episodes with a whole different theme - though those are good too). It would be so educational and enlightening. Inviting different disabled guests (cast, crew, people who don't work at Smosh) and talking to them about their disabilities would teach so much and probably open up more dialog and invite more conversations.